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A review by astralvoyages
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
3.0
This is a book that I both struggled with and loved. Dostoevsky is incredible when it comes to capturing some of the harshest words, deeds, and thoughts in this novel. Riding along with Raskolnikov, stuck with his rants, theories and self-reproach, it can be hard to sit through. You can see Dostoevsky build on his work and themes from Notes from Underground, testing the limits of what he think we'll sympathize with.
Structure-wise, the novel often has these long passages of monologue packed dialogue, focusing on mid 19th century Russian political philosophy that required more patience than I'm used to. It also features incredible descriptive street and domestic scenes that hum with a real energy absent elsewhere, it was those moments that kept me reading.
That said, I found the epilogue somewhat incredulous, and something that ruins an incredible ending. This novel came out in 1867, 1885 if you measure by the first English translation, yet it still feels modern. By that metric, and for arguably inventing the psychological thriller genre, Crime and Punishment is a fine book that I would recommend, if you have the time and endurance to hang around a protagonist like Raskolnikov and long-winded philosophical discussions by not-so-virtuous men.
Structure-wise, the novel often has these long passages of monologue packed dialogue, focusing on mid 19th century Russian political philosophy that required more patience than I'm used to. It also features incredible descriptive street and domestic scenes that hum with a real energy absent elsewhere, it was those moments that kept me reading.
That said, I found the epilogue somewhat incredulous, and something that ruins an incredible ending. This novel came out in 1867, 1885 if you measure by the first English translation, yet it still feels modern. By that metric, and for arguably inventing the psychological thriller genre, Crime and Punishment is a fine book that I would recommend, if you have the time and endurance to hang around a protagonist like Raskolnikov and long-winded philosophical discussions by not-so-virtuous men.